Manning, who is typically known as a quiet leader and one to lead by example, urged his teammates to play hard on every snap in his pep-talk before they played the Chiefs. It seemed to work, as the Giants showed more effort than their previous games and secured a 12-9 overtime win over the Chiefs.

“Eli is the heartbeat of our team,” Darkwa said. “If the Super Bowl rings don’t hold any weight, then I don’t know what else should. You have to be able to follow a guy like that and listen to what he says.”

The Giants will look to continue their rebound from a slow start when they face the Redskins at 8:30 p.m. ET Thanksgiving Day.

“The statements made on our earnings call were describing the factors that impact our business and we sincerely apologize to anyone that thought they were divisive. That definitely was not our intention,” the company, an NFL sponsor, tweeted.

With controversy around the national anthem protests percolating, Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter said on the Nov. 1 call, “The NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders. The NFL has been a long and valued partner over the years. But we’re certainly disappointed that the NFL and its leadership did not resolve the ongoing situation to the satisfaction of all parties long ago. This should’ve been nipped in the bud a year and half ago.”

Papa John’s series of Tuesday tweets said while the company supports players’ rights to protest, it believes that the anthem should be honored and that it’s willing to work with players and the league to move forward from the controversy.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has purchased a majority interest in esports mainstay CompLexity Gaming, winner of more than 130 esports championships in 26 competitive titles, and will relocate the organization to the NFL team’s sprawling world headquarters in suburban Dallas, the Cowboys announced Monday.

Jones along with billionaire real estate investor John Goff are making their entrance into the growing global esports industry through their acquisition of what is considered an iconic esports brand, arguably as identifiable in esports as America’s Team is in the NFL.

“I’m appalled,” Shannon Whitehead wrote. “My husband would NEVER attempt to intentionally hurt another player. I won’t stand by and allow you or any other media personnel to question his integrity or defame him in any way.”

The Bears (3-7) and Lions (6-4) meet again in Week 15 at Ford Field on Dec. 16.

The veteran Colts cornerback has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Steelers while he rehabs a groin injury, FOX59 in Indianapolis reported Wednesday.

According to the report, Davis will practice on a limited basis this week as he works on preserving his availability for the rest of the season after sitting out the team’s Week 9 win over the Texans.

The Cubs focused their rebuilding efforts on finding, developing and signing high-ceiling position talent. Obviously, that approach has worked well. But with a need to restock the pitching staff this winter, the system’s lack of high-quality (and low-cost) pitching prospects looms fairly large.

NFL owners have denied fellow owner Jerry Jones’ request for a special meeting to discuss the pending contract of commissioner Roger Goodell and instead are planning a special session at the league’s Dec. 13 meetings in Irving, Texas, according to reports.

Jones’ request for a special meeting came by way of a letter addressed to Goodell and is part of his effort to halt negotiations toward Goodell’s renewal, the Wall Street Journal reports. The letter was sent Thursday, a day after Jones was warned to cease his campaign against the commissioner.

Some owners find that package being sought Goodell to be “unseemly” and “offensive”, but no new formal offers have come from either side after the two mentioned above.

Morgan recounted for People magazine what it was like to see her husband catch an 83-yard touchdown pass against the Giants, only hours after they’d kissed their son goodbye in the hospital.

“It was very, very emotional watching him out there,” Morgan said. “Seeing him score the touchdown and watching him get emotional after the game. I was crying. It was an amazing moment, but it was also a very sad moment.”

“I look at every day as a new opportunity in making it the best Iwith what I’m given and what I’m told to do. But inside of my control, that’s all I’ve got is working hard and continuing to perform at the best possible level I can,” Gordon said. “Anything outside of that is outside of my control. Staying optimistic.”

The greatest team of the Lemieux-Jagr duo won an NHL-record 17 straight games from March 9-April 10 to finish with a league-best 119 points. Four different Penguins (Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet and Ron Francis) scored at least 100 points, with Jagr at 94.

It also didn’t help that others’ attempts to listen to players’ concerns were awkward and/or tone deaf. Bills owner Terry Pegula complimented Anquan Boldin for his message about police brutality, but called the receiver “Antwan.” He also said the NFL could use a spokesperson like Boldin on social issues because it couldn’t be “white owner but needs to be someone who’s black.”

Both teams are looking way up at the Eagles in the NFC East, and the loser has a long, difficult path as midseason approaches. Knowing well in advance that Ezekiel Elliott is available will help the Cowboys. Possibly being down two key offensive linemen (Trent Williams, Brandon Scherff) does Washington no good. Neither does the fact that the Cowboys have won four straight in Washington, including Dak Prescott’s first career win last season.

Deshaun Watson has been great, but it has to be pretty worrisome that Houston is 3-4 despite Watson’s play. The biggest concern is they’ve lost three games when scoring 30 or more points this season. They had three such losses in their franchise history prior to this season.

Can the Bills keep winning with such little production from their wide receivers? Their receivers rank last in receptions (45) and yards (594), and eventually Buffalo could need them to make some plays.

It was the third home run of the World Series for Pederson, demoted to the minors from mid-August until early September, then left off the NL Division Series roster. He had hit just one previous opposite-field homer in the big leagues this season, and teammates offered to pay him to go the other way.

“People are trying to get me encouraged to using the whole field,” he said. “I’m not very good at it.”

Yu Darvish starts Wednesday for the Dodgers, trying to win their first title since 1988, and Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw will be ready in the bullpen after getting knocked out in the fifth inning of Game 5.

“He probably couldn’t sleep the last two or three nights.” Actually, Ball napped Thursday afternoon and then ate his traditional pre-game lunch, a Spicy Italian sandwich with extra lettuce and mayonnaise from Subway. He slipped on a Dodgers jersey and left his home in Marina del Rey early, at 3 p.m. so he could get treatment on his sprained left ankle.

Wherever Ball goes, he will face some degree of resentment, if not from the Currys then certainly the Beverleys. “With his stardom, much is given and much is required,” Beverley said. “He’s a great talent. Don’t get me mistaken. In a couple years, he’s going to be a really, really, really, really good talent. He has a good feel for the game. But due to a lot of extra stuff outside basketball, it’s a lot of pressure.”

Not every opponent employs a pest like Patrick Beverley, and Friday night in Phoenix, openings will be much easier to find. Eventually, the Lakers will turn Ball’s telepathic passes into points. But he will never forget the 2017 opener. When Magic thinks of his debut, he thinks of Kareem. When Ball thinks of his, he will think of Pat Bev. “He’ll appreciate this,” Beverley said, “when he looks back on it.”

The NFL trade deadline was Tuesday afternoon, and fans were imagining a deal that would make their team better. For years those were pipe dreams that never happened.

A year ago, Joe Thomas, Sheldon Richardson, Alshon Jeffery, Joe Haden and others were rumored to be possible pieces in trades before the 2016 deadline. But no blockbuster happened, and the biggest moves were the Browns acquiring Jamie Collins and the Patriots getting Kyle Van Noy.

According to the win probability data at FanGraphs.com, there have been 15 win-expectancy swings of at least 20 percent during the first five games of the series. These are the game-flipping, stomach-turning moments that will live on in highlight recaps of this series forever.

Let’s revisit each of these moments in chronological order, and using win-probability added (WPA) as our metric, we’ll identify who the series MVP was at that moment.

By the time February rolls around in the NBA or July and August come in the MLB, it’s already apparent for many teams whether they still have championship hopes or if their year is sunk.

The 49ers chose not to seek a potential long-term quarterback solution in the offseason, instead signing Hoyer and using a third-round pick on Beathard.

Hoyer started the first six games but was benched in favor of Beathard in the team’s loss to Washington on Oct. 16. Beathard has started the past two games but didn’t fare much better than Hoyer as the Niners lost to Dallas and Philadelphia by a combined 53 points to drop to 0-8 for the first time in franchise history.

The trade for Garoppolo comes as a surprise if only because most Niners quarterback speculation centered on Cousins, who could become a free agent in March and has long-standing ties to San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan.

The return of Titans rookie receiver Corey Davis is imminent, and it’s likely to come Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

Golden State (4-3) shot 57 from the field opposed to Detroit’s 46 percent mark, but continual carelessness was the issue yet again. They turned it over 26 times, leading to 33 points for the Pistons.

Every game this season, the Warriors have turned over the ball 16 or more times.

Draymond Green, who avoided a suspension from his altercation with Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal on Friday, looked out of sorts. He pulled down 13 boards, but he committed a game-high six turnovers and only four assists.

The announcement of Kapler’s hiring will be made sometime this week.

Kapler, 42, hit .268 in 12 major league seasons as an outfielder with Boston, the Texas Rangers and four other clubs. He is known to have a strong background in analytics, an area the Phillies said they planned to stress in their search.

The star recruit and son of Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery had planned to sit out as a freshman and play baseball for Iowa in the spring. But backup point guard Christian Williams left the program last week, leaving Iowa thin at that position.

Although he finished 27 of 45 for 423 yards, the Lions failed to score a touchdown despite seven trips inside the Steelers’ 30-yard line, as downs, turnovers or field goals ended their drives.

Smith-Schuster, who saw extra snaps in wake of Martavis Bryant’s suspension, finished with seven catches for 193 yards and the long TD. Bryant, who questioned Smith-Schuster’s talent on Instagram, simply watched on the sideline as Smith-Schuster all but took away his spot in the offense.

Gabe Kapler has been named the new manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, a league source confirmed to ESPN.com.

The problem with Manning is that he’s owed $22.2 million on the cap next year, including a $5 million roster bonus and a $10 million base salary. The roster bonus makes it likely the Giants will have to make a decision on Manning in March, before they’re even sure they’ll end up with a young quarterback in the draft. The Giants could clear out $16 million in cap space by designating Manning as a post-June 1 release, which is money they’ll need if they want to re-sign Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg before looking at that enormous Odell Beckham Jr. extension.

Davis returned to practice Monday, on a limited basis, for the first time since Week 2, when he suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss five games.

“I’m feeling the best I’ve felt. I’m feeling real confident this week,” said Davis, the No. 5 overall pick out of Western Michigan, noting he’ll “definitely” be 100 percent if he’s out there this week. “It’s been tough on me, but the main thing is me staying positive.”

Tight end Delanie Walker did not practice with a right ankle bone bruise, but Mularkey noted it was mostly due to the fact the Titans had an extra day of practice this week.

Safety Johnathan Cyprien returned to practice on a limited basis for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 1. Mularkey said Cyprien’s practice reps were plentiful, similar to Davis, leading to a decent chance he’ll push to play Sunday as well.

The Detroit Pistons, after beating the LA Clippers the evening prior in Southern California, stole a huge road win on Sunday by defeating the defending champs 115-107 at Oracle Arena.

If you’re a fan of any of the eight MLB teams still playing and are lucky enough to attend a playoff game, congratulations! That’s awesome. (Unless you’re a Red Sox fan in which case it’s looking like it could be a very sad scene at Fenway on Sunday). You’ll need to plan out your eating and drinking schedule accordingly. The lines inside the stadiums are going to be extremely intimidating and frustrating to deal with. So, if you don’t want to get to the stadium as soon as the gates open and get right in the food lines, then consider finding food options around the stadium.

“There’s playing football — and then there’s playing football in Kansas City,” Charles wrote. “The city is special…the stadium is special…the atmosphere isn’t like anywhere else in the world. It was a privilege to be able to take part in so many of those Sundays at Arrowhead, and to be able to contribute to so many great Chiefs teams.

“Things are different now, I guess. It’s nine years later — and I’m coming back to K.C. for a road game, playing for a new team. A different team for the first time in what feels like forever. But it’s times like these that make you think about how it started. Times like these that make me think about how lucky I was to call Kansas City home.”

Charles, who was selected by Kansas City in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft, signed a one-year deal with the Broncos in May following his release from the Chiefs in February. The veteran wanted to remain with the team and was even willing to take a pay cut to make it happen, but ultimately couldn’t change his fate. Still, he doesn’t take being cut personally.

“At the end of the day, I wouldn’t change a single thing about the past nine years,” Charles wrote. “I could go on and on about how grateful I am, or about what my old team means to me. But instead I’ll just say it like this: Football ends at some point. Family is forever.

The NFL wrapped up Week 4 with a great battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington. The Chiefs secured the win and moved to 4-0, the last unbeaten team left in the NFL. Naturally, they’re the top-ranked team across the board in this week’s power rankings.

SB Nation released its Hope Rankings heading into Week 5. This isn’t a power rankings list. Instead, this list tells you which team SB Nation thinks has the most hope heading into Week 5. The Houston Texans are the No. 1 team on this week’s Hope Rankings. They defeated the Tennessee Titans, 57-14, in Week 4 — and rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 283 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Rookie safety Jabrill Peppers showed up on the injury report with a toe issue. Coach Hue Jackson said he has been dealing with it for a while, and it kept him out of practice on Wednesday. Peppers’ availability could come down to a Friday or game-day decision. — Pat McManamon

The biggest issue is still right tackle Marcus Gilbert (hamstring), who did not practice Wednesday and has been out for much of the past month. As one of the game’s best right tackles, Gilbert affects much of the what the offense wants to do schematically. Four other starters sat out Wednesday: center Maurkice Pouncey (chest), offensive guard Ramon Foster (back), defensive end Stephon Tuitt (back) and linebacker Vince Williams. None of those injuries is considered major, but missed game action is possible. — Jeremy Fowler